


Debunking Dogma

by WannaBeAuthor



Series: Smarter Endings [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 20:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18198746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WannaBeAuthor/pseuds/WannaBeAuthor
Summary: Team Plasma's entire ideology is proven wrong, shutting down the team for good.





	Debunking Dogma

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading the manga version of Black and White, and it bothered me just how wrong Team Plasma's arguments for Pokemon Liberation were. So I decided to write a fic where Black (or whatever you want to call the protagonist, I'm just used to that name) calls them out on it. Right after Ghestis's big speech near the beginning of the game.
> 
> Note: I know this is going to be upsetting for all the dogfighting theorists, but there is no evidence whatsoever in the games that Pokemon training is involuntary. In fact, between the Pokemon seen in the anime who escaped abusive trainers and the legends from Sinnoh on the origin of tall grass Pokemon attacks, and the emphasis put on friendship in the series, there is far more evidence to suggest that all Human/Pokemon relations are entirely voluntary (exempting Ash and Pikachu in episode 1, he was kind of a jerk. And several times the villains enslaved Legendaries but they're the freaking bad guys.) Pokemon fights are more like a martial arts tournament then dogfighting in that the students pick the teachers, train hard under someone they respect, and fight in very controlled and rules-based matches designed to prevent injury against skilled opponents in a league.

The events of this day seemed wrong for it, somehow. The sun shone brightly in the sky. Not a cloud could be seen. The Bird-types were chirping and the Grassy-types were green. It seemed like the kind of day where nothing bad could happen. But the world doesn't work that way. Rain does not fall wherever there is misery, and the sun will keep on shining indifferent to the humans on the ground, making the worst mistakes of their lives. And so it was as Ghetsis convinced trainers to release their Pokémon, their friends and companions for years, some who had lived their whole lives with their trainers, who had lived and eaten and played and experienced hardship and happiness together. They were kicking their Pokémon out of their lives, in the belief that they would be happier that way. Ghetsis left the stage, content in his days work spreading his rhetoric, coming one step closer to his goal. And then someone else was on the platform. He began screaming to the crowd. "Wait up! Listen to me! You're making a huge mistake!" 

The assembled crowd turned to see who wanted to talk to them now. He was a young boy, perhaps a teenager, and a bit young to be here on his own. They knew he was a Pokémon trainer from the Pokéballs holstered to his hip. Of course a trainer would speak up against Team Plasma's goals. Those who had not been convinced by the sermon hoped with all their hearts that this person could convince the others of their mistake and save them from themselves. Of course, they weren't his target audience; the target audience continued their farewells instead of listening, for they thought he was motivated only by the fear that the idea of Pokémon liberation was threatening his career. Well, they were still within hearing range and there was still time to fix this. He began his speech.

"You've already heard the arguments against having Pokémon partners, so it's only fair that you hear the arguments in favor. Now, I don't have all the experience Ghetsis has with this convincing crowds thing, so I'll skip all the fancy talk and get to the point. His arguments can be summed up as "Pokémon are forced to serve humans and would be happier without them," correct? That's all wrong. Think about it. How many times has your Pokémon actually expressed a desire to leave you? How many times have they tried to run away? How many times have they acted in any way indicating that they want to leave you? Is there anyone here for whom the answer is not zero?"

You could hear Kricketots chirping as he waited for an answer. Those Kricketots belonged to a Bug Catcher, visiting from Sinnoh, who had decided to let all of her little bugs go. They refused to leave her and were crowding around her, hugging, not letting go no matter how many times she gently picked them off her and pushed them away.

"That's what I thought. Do you know why? Because if they wanted to, they would. There is nothing keeping your Pokémon from leaving. If you were really as bad as Ghetsis says you are, if you were really forcing your Pokémon to do what you want, then they would have left the moment you let them out of the Pokéball. It does happen, you know. They are here because they want to be here. For one reason or another, they prefer your company. Maybe they respect you. Maybe they think you have something to teach them. Maybe you're doing something for them. But the most common reason is that they are your friends and family. For me, it's all of the above. Remember, you can't take a Pokémon against its will. Some Pokémon find their humans in the wild grass, testing their skills until they are satisfied with you. Maybe they were impressed with your skill in battle. Or maybe they were impressed with your persistence or saw how much they valued you in the cost of the Pokéballs flung one after another. Or they could have met you and decided you were the right human for them with no battle necessary. Or maybe you saved their life, or they saved yours. There are a thousand ways people and Pokémon can meet. However you met, remember that they chose you."

"Not all Pokémon get to choose," spat Ghetsis, who was rapidly scrambling to get the situation back under control. "Pokémon are exchanged like mere goods for humans to pass around."

"Anyone who trades away their Pokémon obviously doesn't care about them in the first place. It's the best thing for those who are traded to be sent to someone who actually wants them."

"It's the best thing for them to live free!"

"They already are! Pokémon accept the trade because they don't want to stay with a Trainer willing to give them away. They stay with trainers because their lives are better that way and leave if they don't. And if they don't want a human companion, they stay in the wild instead of looking for one! You're arguing to give Pokémon a right to choose that was NEVER TAKEN AWAY IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"Then why do they do what we ask? Why do they take our commands if they were truly free?"

"Ask them! Take the time to talk to your Pokémon. They can understand us, they can communicate their feelings, and they know this stuff better then any of us! Let's test your theory. All of you, take out your Pokémon and ask them if they want to stay with you or if they would be happier out in the wild! Or are you denying their right of choice?"

The boy had maneuvered Ghetsis into a trap. If he even hesitated, then they would know that he had doubt of the outcome. If he tried to prevent the test, they would all know that he never believed his own dogma. His careful work building the organization would all be for nothing, his dreams of world conquest never attained. He gave no complaint.

All the crowd released their Pokémon. They could not in good conscience hold them against their will, nor could they send away a Pokémon that wishes to stay. Soon every trainer in the city was talking to their Pokémon. Asking them if they wanted to stay and if the wild would be better. Asking why they chose to stay with them, why they chose to come to them, why they fought with them. Without exception, all Pokémon chose to stay; to live their comfortable and happy life with the people they knew and loved. Through games of charades, they described their feelings and reasons. A Sawk described its love of battle (by mimicking a play fight with a nearby Throh), a Lillipup its devotion to its trainer (through pouncing and cuddling with his trainer), a Timburr the desire to become stronger (flexing his massive muscles). One rather pragmatic Purrloin stole its trainer's purse to grab his food and the trainer's wallet, demonstrating that it only wanted its trainer to earn money from fighting so that he could afford better pet beds and food for it. The only thing they all had in common was the unwillingness to leave their trainers.

"You see? We shouldn't send away our Pokémon just because we don't know if they're happy. We should make sure they are! Find out what makes life best for them. Communicate with your Pokémon. Keep them outside of the Pokéballs unless they want in. Play with them and make sure they never regret choosing you as their trainer. All you have to do is listen and pay attention to your Pokémon and you should always be able to keep them happy."

Ghetsis was plotting this meddlesome boy's imminent assassination. This counter-argument was too strong to argue because it was had the power of truth. When all he needed to do to prove himself right was ask a random Pokémon, there was no fighting the facts. He'd have to get the kid out of the way or take the Pokémon by force. Either way, he could bounce back. He could still win.

"Sage Ghetsis! Is this true? Are we taking away Pokémon's freedom of choice in attempting to ensure it? Are we all doing the opposite of our goals?"

The other grunts were already spreading the word through the organization through Team Plasma's communication channels. They would have to face mass defections if the word got out. He had to act now, and silence these fools before they doomed his organization. "No! It's lies, all of it! Don't listen to a word he says!"

"Did you ever really believe in the cause?"

"Of course that's why I believe! That's why I can't let you defect!"

"Team Plasma is all about freedom to make your own decisions. You can't stop us if you truly believe our ideals." When had these grunts gotten so smart? This was crumbling, he was being undone by his own ideology, his own propaganda turned against him, no no no no no this can't be happening.... he couldn't order them anymore, and he couldn't let them spread the word. He had only one course of action left; they had to be silenced, by any means possible. He sent out his Scolipede to kill them all. He could always blame it on the survivors. Who would they belive? The man who was banned by his beliefs from carrying Pokémon as one of the most important figures in a Pokémon liberation organization, or a defected grunt? He would claim that the Scolipede had been angered at the speech from that child and fought to ensure its freedom. The lies he spread would seem more plausible and the boy would never be able to do this again. It was all coming together.

And then the Scolipede was attacked by every Pokémon in the clearing. The grunts ran in the window of opportunity caused by the attack. Ghetsis didn't care, it was only a momentary setback, these Pokémon were all weak and trashy. Scolipede could defeat them all in minutes and still do his job. He considered sending out the rest of his team but decided that even one Pokémon as strong as Scolipede in the area would be suspicious, much less his whole team. It was doing its job well regardless, chasing after the defectors and rapidly gaining while completely ignoring the weak attacks from all sides. Before it could catch up, a Braivary scooped the grunts up and lifted them out of range of any of Scolipede's attacks. He was an exposed hypocrite and liar if they got away. He called in all of Team Plasma to shoot the defectors out of the sky before they did anything to harm their mission.

When the cops came, there was nothing he could do to save himself, as his chances of avoiding incarceration would be best if he accepted the arrest without resistance. The entire story got on the news in minutes. Team Plasma's king, a good man named N who truly believed in the cause, had only detained the grunts for interrogation when they were found. The Braivary corroborated his story to the Pokémon whisperer N, and he was excommunicated from the organization. And so with Ghetsis's arrest and one boy's speech, Team Plasma became a force for good, advocating for the rights of Pokémon everywhere, rehabilitating abused Pokémon and giving advice to trainers on rocky terms with their Pokémon. With their help friendships and companionships between people and Pokemon were better then ever.


End file.
